Pixel P&L: Hollow Knight Fans Break Steam Trying to Buy Silksong

Welcome to another Pixel P&L edition. This issue takes 4 minutes to read. If you only have one, here are the 5 most important things:

• Hollow Knight: Silksong finally launched after years of waiting, causing Steam, PlayStation, and Nintendo servers to crash due to overwhelming demand.

• India's Madhya Pradesh High Court issued notice to central government over a petition challenging its online money gaming ban.

• Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman officially takes control of the Esports World Cup Foundation for three years.

• Amazon's Tomb Raider series with Sophie Turner gets a filming date, starting production in January 2026.

• Saudi-backed Savvy Games plans multibillion-dollar China deals, exploiting U.S.-China tensions. 

Let's get into it.

Gaming Servers Buckle Under Demand as Silksong Finally Arrives

The long wait for Hollow Knight: Silksong ended today, but technical difficulties prevented many eager fans from accessing the game immediately after its 8:30 PM IST launch.

Major digital retailers including Steam, PlayStation Store, Xbox Game Pass and Nintendo eShop experienced widespread outages as players rushed to purchase the indie sequel. Steam users encountered error messages featuring a "frustrated blob" graphic, while Nintendo Switch players reported frozen loading screens. Some PlayStation users found the game had disappeared from the store entirely.

The Australia-based Team Cherry announced the surprise release in August, giving competitors just two weeks' notice and prompting several indie developers to delay their own launches to avoid competing with the highly anticipated title.

Despite server issues, Silksong quickly became Steam's top-selling title with over 500,000 concurrent players at the time of writing. The original "Hollow Knight" has sold 15 million copies since 2017.

High Court Issues Notice on Challenge to India's Online Gaming Ban

India's Madhya Pradesh High Court issued a notice to the central government over a petition challenging new legislation that bans real-money online games, marking the third legal challenge to the controversial law.

The division bench directed authorities to respond within four weeks, scheduling the next hearing for October 28. Fantasy sports platform Boom11's operator, Clubboom11 Sports & Entertainment, filed the petition claiming the August 22 legislation violates constitutional rights.

Similar challenges are pending in Karnataka and Delhi high courts, filed by rummy platform A23 Rummy and carrom platform Bagheera Carrom respectively.

Senior Advocate Gopal Jain argued that fantasy sports have been recognized as legitimate by India's Supreme Court, making regulation preferable to prohibition. The petition seeks to declare the law arbitrary and unconstitutional for criminalizing skill-based games.

Solicitor General Tushar Mehta indicated the government may seek to consolidate all challenges in one court, clarifying the law targets only games with monetary returns, not all online gaming.

⚡️Quick Bytes

Saudi Crown Prince Named Chair of Esports World Cup Foundation

Saudi Arabia's cabinet appointed Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman as chair of the Esports World Cup Foundation's board of trustees for three years. The move deepens government ties to the nonprofit, which receives funding from the kingdom's sovereign wealth fund. Prince Mohammed already chairs gaming company Savvy Games Group, which owns major esports operators including ESL and FACEIT.

Amazon's Tomb Raider Series to Begin Production in January 2026

Amazon's Tomb Raider adaptation will start filming January 19, 2026, with Sophie Turner cast as Lara Croft. Phoebe Waller-Bridge serves as creator, writer and executive producer, while Shōgun director Jonathan van Tulleken will helm episodes. The series, greenlit in May 2024, marks Amazon MGM Studios' latest attempt to adapt the popular video game franchise for television.

Saudi-Backed Savvy Games Eyes Multibillion-Dollar China Deals

Savvy Games Group plans multibillion-dollar deals across China and Asia, leveraging U.S.-China tensions to attract Chinese developers seeking international market access, according to The Financial Times. CEO Brian Ward said Saudi Arabia's neutral position helps avoid regulatory hurdles blocking U.S.-China deals. The $38 billion Public Investment Fund-backed company aims to become the world's largest games publisher, currently ranking eighth globally.

⚔️Side Quest

📺 Watch: Rare insights from Runescape CEO John Bellamy, a lifelong player turned executive. He reveals the "secret sauce" behind gaming's most enduring franchise that consists of 25+ years of pure subscription models, player-centric community management, and the vision to build a "hundred-year game."

🎮 Play: Hollow Knight: Silksong. Do you really want to miss out on what is perhaps the most hyped indie game release of all time?

📚 Read: How Tetris Effect transformed author Malindy Hetfeld’s lifelong aversion to Tetris into genuine love. She explores the emotional design philosophy of Tetsuya Mizuguchi, examining how great games achieve flow states and become therapeutic experiences. Essential for understanding how thoughtful design can make games truly accessible and transformative.

💡Did You Know

Hollow Knight was created by just three people at Team Cherry in Adelaide, Australia. Ari Gibson handled the art and animation, William Pellen composed the haunting soundtrack, and Jack Vine programmed the intricate gameplay mechanics. This tiny team spent over two years meticulously handcrafting every aspect of their Metroidvania masterpiece, from the fluid combat system to the atmospheric world of Hallownest. The game’s sequel, Hollow Knight: Silksong, maintained this three-person development approach.

📜 Quote of the Day

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